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Just 1mm away from death – meet the dog who survived having her throat slit

A dog who cheated death after having her throat slit has been given a second chance at life – after surviving the horrific ordeal.

Lexi was held by her muzzle as previous owner David Owen took a smooth-bladed carving knife and sliced her throat, during an argument with his partner.

It left a deep wound which would have been fatal had the blade gone just one millimetre deeper. Instead she was left with the injury for four days, which had been hastily bandaged up, before the RSPCA was made aware.

David Owen (DOB 20/10/77), of Cole Street, in Netherton, Dudley, was sentenced to five months in prison at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday last week (3 April), for an offence of causing unnecessary suffering to Lexi. He was found guilty in his absence at an earlier hearing, in a case brought by the RSPCA.

Staffordshire bull terrier Lexi suffered the horrific injury on 1 April last year. The RSPCA was made aware of the incident on 5 April, and when inspector Steve Morrall visited Owen’s home he found Lexi alive, despite the severity of her injury.

He took her to a vet to be examined, where it was found that the knife had missed a main artery by one millimetre, which would have certainly led her to bleed to death. Owen had also sliced at her left ear, leaving the tip hanging off.

Amazingly Lexi has since made an excellent recovery and has now been rehomed to a loving new family.

Inspector Morrall said: “It really is amazing that Lexi has made such a fantastic recovery. The injury she had was serious but against the odds she pulled through. If the knife had gone just a tiny bit deeper I would have turned up at Owen’s house to find a dog who had bled to death.

“Instead, despite being severely injured and in a bad way, we managed to get her veterinary help in the nick of time.

“Thankfully she survived this horrific ordeal and I’m so pleased that she has been adopted into a very loving family who dote on her.

“It is difficult to imagine how terrified she would have been and how much pain and suffering she went through because of this callous act of violence.

“The most important thing now is that she has been given a second chance at life.”

When Lexi first arrived at the RSPCA’s Birmingham Animal Centre, she was depressed and subdued – but staff worked hard to get her to where she is today.

Lexi has since been adopted by Darren Chambers and his family, who live in Worcestershire.

Darren said: “We went to the RSPCA Birmingham Animal Centre to look around and we saw Lexi. The moment the staff told us what had happened to her, I said to my family, ‘We have to get her’. She needed somewhere nice to live so she could realise that not everyone is like the person who hurt her.

“She has got a scar on her throat and we were told that when she arrived at Birmingham Animal Centre she was very distrusting of men, which isn’t a surprise after what happened to her. But the staff spent a lot of time helping her trust men again, they made sure that she gradually got used to male members of staff.

“When we went to see her for the first time, she took to me straight away! We went to visit her about 10 times before bringing her home as we wanted her to feel comfortable around us before she moved in with us.

“She just loves fuss and being around people. She will always sit next to someone on the sofa, but if they move she moves as well – she doesn’t like sitting on the sofa on her own.”

Lexi’s traumatic past means that, sadly, she suffers from separation anxiety. However, the introduction of a new family dog – a doberman called Monty – has hugely helped Lexi.

“Lexi and Monty get on so well, he is so placid and is so good for her,” said Darren. “We worried that they might not get on but that thankfully hasn’t been the case at all.”

Darren added: “She gets a lot of attention when we take her out. People always say how lovely she is – and when we tell them what happened to her they just can’t believe it. It disgusts me that someone did what they did to her but she is so happy now.”

As well as a five-month prison sentence, Owen was also given a lifetime ban on keeping animals.

Inspector Morrall added: “My thanks and mention go to the staff at RSPCA Birmingham Animal Hospital and Animal Centre in their care given to Lexi, not only in aiding her incredible recovery but also in rebuilding her confidence which resulted in Lexi finding a good home.”